Crisis without Limits

Human Rights and Humanitarian Consequences of Political Repression in Zimbabwe

I. Summary

Zimbabwe is in a humanitarian crisis that is the result of a
political crisis. A cholera epidemic has-as of January 12, 2009-left over
39,000 people infected and at least 2,000 dead, with the disease spreading to
neighboring countries. This marks both the collapse of Zimbabwe's healthcare
system and the calculated disregard for the welfare of Zimbabweans by the
ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).
The country is experiencing the sharpest rise in infant mortality in its
history, and maternal mortality rates have tripled since the mid-90s.
Meanwhile, over five million Zimbabweans face severe food shortages and are
dependent on international aid. Making matters worse, ZANU-PF's repeated
political interference in the work of humanitarian agencies and its attempts to
conceal the extent of the disaster have severely hampered international efforts
to help tackle these multiple crises.

ZANU-PF's longstanding assault on political freedoms and
civil rights lies at the heart of Zimbabwe's humanitarian crisis. While
political violence, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary detentions by the
government of President Robert Mugabe peaked in the weeks leading up to the
run-off presidential elections in June 2008, they have continued to the present
as ZANU-PF uses repression to back its dubious claim to power. Over 40
supporters from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and human rights
activists have "disappeared" or been arbitrarily detained since November 2008. ZANU-PF
controlled police units continue to violently break up peaceful protests, and
routinely arrest and harass MDC activists.

Despite the ongoing and massive violations of Zimbabweans
basic rights, African governments have largely remained on the sidelines. The
bi-annual summit of African Heads of State in Addis Ababa from January 26 to
February 3, 2009, provides African leaders with a crucial opportunity to
intervene effectively to end Zimbabwe's long-standing political crisis.

African leaders need to move beyond the failed mediation
efforts of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). Only concerted
pressure on the Mugabe government can end Zimbabwe's unprecedented humanitarian
emergency and the regional crisis it has created.

Hopes for an end to Zimbabwe's crisis were raised on
September 15, 2008 when ZANU-PF and the MDC, with much fanfare from SADC and
its mediator, former South African president Thabo Mbeki, signed a Global
Political Agreement (GPA) in which both parties committed to acting in a manner
that demonstrated respect for democratic values and human rights. Many
Zimbabweans and concerned outsiders hoped the agreement would end ZANU-PF's
abusive practices, lead to a credible government of national unity, bring about
the reengagement of foreign donors, and lead to a gradual recovery in the
country's economic and social conditions.

Human Rights Watch and others warned that such an agreement
would fail unless ongoing human rights abuses ceased and those responsible were
held to account. Yet the continued absence of accountability in Zimbabwe remains a major block to progress. ZANU-PF has not honored the letter and spirit
of the GPA: four months since it was signed, ZANU-PF violations of basic human
rights continue and its policies have deepened the country's humanitarian
crisis.

Increasingly, Zimbabwe is a sub-regional crisis. Political
and economic instability, the cholera outbreak, and severe food insecurity have
driven thousands of Zimbabweans into neighboring countries. Cholera has spread
from Zimbabwe to South Africa, Botswana, and Mozambique. In December 2008, South Africa in effect acknowledged the regional nature of the crisis by calling the spread of
cholera from Zimbabwe to its border town of Musina "a disaster." The African
Union (AU) should follow suit and openly acknowledge that the situation in Zimbabwe threatens the entire region.

The AU also has an opportunity to succeed where South Africa and SADC have failed. The AU Charter identifies respect for democracy, human
rights, and the rule of law as universal values and says that all states party
to it must promote and adhere to them. By putting human rights at the core of
the Zimbabwe crisis and acting swiftly against those who disregard them, AU
leaders can create a credible basis for affecting a positive resolution.

Human Rights Watch calls on the AU to insert itself formally
into the mediation process as impartial arbiters. If not, even greater numbers
of Zimbabweans will suffer political persecution and the horrendous humanitarian
conditions in their country, inevitably deepening and widening the regional
crisis.

II. Recommendations

To the African Union
(AU)

Publicly condemn ongoing abuses by the ZANU-PF
authorities, including enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and
torture and other mistreatment.

Ensure that mediation on Zimbabwe is led and staffed by a
new team of independent facilitators appointed by the AU, who should in
turn set basic principles, specific benchmarks, and timelines for
resolving the crisis.

In accordance with the AU Charter, suspend the Zimbabwe
government from the AU if-within a specific timeframe-it does not
implement or meet specific human rights and good governance benchmarks.
These should include an end to politically motivated violence, enforced
disappearances, torture, and the release of MDC and civil society
activists who are being arbitrarily detained.

Urge full accountability for the perpetrators of human
rights abuses, including prosecutions of all persons responsible in accordance
with international due process standards, as well as appropriate remedies
for victims of abuses.

Call on the Zimbabwean authorities to guarantee and
facilitate unfettered access for humanitarian organizations and UN
agencies to provide humanitarian assistance to all vulnerable persons.

Call on the Zimbabwean authorities to take steps to
improve access to the availability of food and farming inputs and make
serious efforts to end corruption at all levels of the food importation
and distribution process.

To Members of the
Southern African Development Community (SADC)

Request the involvement of the AU in leading the mediation
process and work with the AU in pressing ZANU-PF to end abuses.

Ensure that mediation initiatives are led and staffed by a
new team of independent facilitators appointed by the AU.

Maintain tight controls on SADC funded aid for the
humanitarian crisis and implement all aspects of SADC relief efforts
through UN agencies or local and international NGOs.

To International Donors (including the US, the UK
and other EU members)

·Continue to withhold non-humanitarian development aid to Zimbabwe
in the absence of clear progress in promoting respect for human rights,
including key human rights reforms; set specific benchmarks and closely monitor
progress.

·Maintain targeted travel sanctions and asset freezes against
ZANU-PF and its leadership until it meets specific human rights and good
governance benchmarks.

·Channel humanitarian assistance through the UN and NGOs and
respond generously to UN agency appeals for Zimbabwe, in order to enable
agencies responding to the humanitarian crisis to provide adequate levels of
food, medical care, and other humanitarian assistance to those in need.

·Demand that programs funded by donor governments are not used by
the Zimbabwean authorities for political purposes and that all international
aid reaches Zimbabweans in need.

To UN Agencies

Actively protest the government's deliberate obstruction
of humanitarian programs, including through public representations.

Ensure strict accountability for aid provided through
official bodies-monitor aid to ensure it reaches those most in need.

Through timely and regular reporting, ensure that senior
UN officials and donors are kept informed of the humanitarian situation
and encouraged to impress upon the government its obligations to comply
with human rights standards with respect to the rights to food and health.
WFP workers, NGO staff, and local authorities involved in food
distribution should re-emphasize the principle of non-discrimination by
talking to communities, local leadership, district and provincial
authorities, party members and leaders, and any others involved in food
relief programs.

Work closely with local NGOs and community based
organizations to target international aid distribution to those most in
need, irrespective of real or suspected political affiliation.

To the UNHCHR

Urgently impress upon the government of Zimbabwe its
responsibility to assist and protect Zimbabweans in need of urgent humanitarian
assistance and the unacceptability of obstructing efforts of the
international community to help the population in need.

To the Human Rights Council

Call on relevant Special Procedures to investigate the
denial of the rights to adequate food and health, including access to
medical care, of Zimbabwean citizens by the Zimbabwean authorities and
report back to the Human Rights Council.

Hold a Special Session on the human rights situation in
Zimbabwe.

Condemn attacks against human rights defenders and task
the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders to investigate attacks
against human rights defenders committed since the elections were held in
2008 and present a report to the Human Rights Council.

III. Methodology

This report is based on research conducted by Human Rights
Watch in Zimbabwe between November 16 and 30, 2008, in the provinces of
Mashonaland East and West, Manicaland, Masvingo, Midlands and Harare.

Human Rights Watch conducted more than 50 interviews with
representatives of local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
and humanitarian agencies, United Nations officials, MDC officials, officials
from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Grain and Marketing board, lawyers,
health experts, agricultural experts, economists, victims of human rights
violations, and members of the diplomatic community. Telephone interviews were
also conducted with local and international NGOs, lawyers, and victims of human
rights violations between August 2008 and January 2009.

Human Rights Watch also reviewed reports from humanitarian
organizations and UN agencies, government policy documents and available
statistics, and other public documents related to Zimbabwe's humanitarian and
human rights situation.

The names of all those interviewed for this report have been
withheld for security reasons.

IV. The Humanitarian
Crisis and the State's Failure to Respond

Zimbabwe is in the midst of an all-encompassing humanitarian
crisis that has seen an almost total collapse in the delivery of basic
government sanitation, health, and welfare services.

To date the Zimbabwean authorities have demonstrated neither
the will nor the capacity to address the crisis and protect Zimbabweans from
its consequences. Repressive government and extensive corruption have led
directly to an interlinked economic collapse, a humanitarian crisis and growing
public desperation. In doing so, the ZANU-PF government has violated the basic
rights of Zimbabweans to food, health and clean water.

Statistics from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
show that Zimbabwe has the world's fourth-highest rate of HIV prevalence and
has recently seen an unprecedented reversal of progress on child mortality. For
example, mortality rates for children under the age of five have risen from 76
per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 105 per 1,000 live births.[1]
UNICEF says that the hardest hit in Zimbabwe are:

populations affected by serious food insecurity, HIV and
cholera outbreaks as well as those displaced during the fast-track land reform
program, Operation Murambatsvina (OM) and more recent re-evictions.[2]
The more chronic vulnerabilities include inadequate access to basic social
services, lack of agricultural inputs and disrupted livelihoods.[3]

Maternal mortality has been steadily rising since the mid
1990's, and was at an alarming 880 per 100,000 live births in 2005, the last
year for which World Health Organization data is available.[4]

Deaths from cholera in Zimbabwe's main cities and townships
are mounting, and health, water and sanitation services have collapsed. The
cholera outbreak has left over 39,000 Zimbabweans infected and over 2,000 dead,
but is only one of a growing array of healthcare disasters.[5]
For example, 1.3 million Zimbabweans are living with HIV/AIDS, yet only 110,000
of the 480,000 people in urgent need of anti-retro-viral therapy (ART) are
currently receiving it.[6]

Because of disruptions in the supply of drugs, food
shortages, and transportation difficulties, many of those who do receive ART
may not be able to consistently ensure access to their daily medicines, leading
to the development of drug resistant HIV strains and treatment failure leading
to premature mortality.[7]
With collapsing living conditions and the emerging HIV epidemic, Zimbabwe has
seen a resurgence in cases of tuberculosis-six times more cases in 2008 than 20
years previously. And cure rates for those put on treatment are just 54
percent.

Food Insecurity

Zimbabwe has suffered from food shortages since 2000 when
the Mugabe government embarked on a violent and illegal program of land
seizures.[8]
An estimated 5.1 million Zimbabweans-half the population-are expected to need
food aid in 2009.[9]

Food output in Zimbabwe has deteriorated drastically in the
past year. The UN World Food Program (WFP) estimates that maize production in
2008 was 575,000 metric tons-28percent below 2007's historically low level.[10]
Maize is Zimbabwe's staple but many villagers interviewed by Human Rights Watch
in Mashonaland East, West, Masvingo, Midlands and Manicaland provinces said
that they were either living on one meal of sadza (maize meal) a day or
on wild fruit.

On October 9, 2008, WFP appealed for US$140 million for
vital relief rations in Zimbabwe for the following six months.[11]
It estimated a cereal gap for the period April 2008 to March 2009 of 1.2
million tons.

The Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission (CFSAM-a joint
body of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and WFP)
determined that Zimbabwe's poor main cereal harvest in 2008 was due to a
combination of adverse weather conditions, a lack of key agricultural inputs
(fertilizer and tractors), crumbling irrigation systems, and disincentives
caused by government price controls.[12]

As a result of severe food shortages, levels of chronic malnutrition
among children under age five have increased, so that 28 percent are
chronically malnourished.[13]
Hyper-inflation of over 231 million percent has eroded the capacity of families
to access the little food available on the market, an especially acute problem
for people living in urban areas with no access to land. Maize remains
unavailable in most shops. Where it is available on the black market, it is
pegged to the US dollar, pricing it out of reach for the average Zimbabwean
household. When Human Rights Watch researchers visited Zimbabwe in November the
price of a 20 kilogram bucket of maize meal was US$20, unaffordable for most
people.[14]
Only 6 percent of Zimbabweans are employed in the formal sector[15].
Teachers, for example, earn an average of US$4 per month.[16]

Six local and international agriculturalists told Human
Rights Watch that the 2008-9 farming season would fail because many farmers
were unable to get seed and fertilizers due to disruption in farming during the
2007-8 season. They presented a picture that placed primary responsibility on
the Zimbabwe authorities for the increased food insecurity in the country,
citing:

Poor agricultural policies that led to the late
distribution of farming inputs such as seed and fertilizer by the Zimbabwe
authorities;[17]

State-sponsored violence after the general elections in
March 2008;

Corruption within state-run agricultural institutions such
as the Grain and Marketing Board (GMB) and by ZANU-PF's political elite.

Each of these factors is discussed below.

Late Distribution of
Farming Inputs

Agriculturalists informed Human Rights Watch that the late
distribution of farming inputs by the Zimbabwe authorities as a result of poor
agricultural policies and corruption was one of the main causes of the decrease
in cereal production in the country. Tillage of farms needs to be done before
the rains and all preparations should be ready by at least September 1 for
rains that normally come between late October and November. An FAO/WFM
assessment mission report to Zimbabwe in May 2008 found that the delayed supply
of inputs was one of the major factors that affected the productivity of the
2007-8 crops.[18]
The assessment mission advised Zimbabwean authorities to ensure that seed was
easily accessible by farmers on the open market and made available in a timely
manner. However, this did not take place. Late distribution of seed and other
farming inputs and unavailability of seed is likely to be a major factor in low
maize production next season.

One agriculturalist told Human Rights Watch:

Agricultural production is about the availability of
inputs. Seed is always released too late by the government. It gets on the
market too late. Yields decline by more than half between November and December
planting.[19]

A farmer made the same point to Human Rights Watch:

I benefited from the government Champion Farmer Programme.
I was promised 10 bags of Compound D fertilizer, 10 bags of Ammonium Nitrate
fertilizer and 50kgs of maize seed but l only got 50kgs of seed. The seed was delivered…on
November 18, …too late for this agricultural season…In any case l was already
surviving on wild fruits so l had to sell 10 kilograms of that seed and then l
washed the treated seed and ground it into maize meal so that my family [could]
survive…a few more weeks.[20]

Analysts estimate that the number of Zimbabweans needing
food assistance is likely to increase in 2009 due to unavailability of seed and
other farming inputs.

State-Sanctioned
Post-Election Violence

The protracted violence throughout Zimbabwe in the months
after general elections in March 2008 added to food insecurity in the country.
Human Rights Watch has collected evidence that shows that state-sponsored
groups such as the ZANU-PF sponsored "youth militia" and "war veterans," state
security forces, and supporters systematically killed livestock, and destroyed
and plundered the homes and food granaries (reserves) of thousands of suspected
MDC activists and supporters in order to ensure their displacement and
inability to vote.[21]
An estimated 36,000 Zimbabweans were displaced by the violence and left in need
of food, water, and shelter.[22]
Looted food was given to soldiers, youth militia, and ZANU-PF supporters at
camps that had been set up throughout the country and used to beat and torture
MDC supporters.

On May 13, Augustino Zacarias, the UN Country Team Resident
and Humanitarian Coordinator to Zimbabwe, released a statement expressing
concern over the politically motivated violence and the rising humanitarian
problems. He expressed worries about those who fled their homes-out of fear of
reprisals-and lacked food, shelter, and other basic social services, which
could trigger unprecedented humanitarian needs.[23]
On May 28, UNICEF released a similar statement denouncing the political violence
that had "displaced at least 10,000 children" in Zimbabwe, and was "affecting
the continued delivery of humanitarian relief to children and their families in
parts of the country."[24]

The violence also prevented local farmers from tending their
farms and preparing for the 2007-8 planting season. A farm manager in Chegutu,
Mashonaland West, told Human Rights Watch, "During the election period just
before the run-off, ZANU-PF supporters came and raided the farmworkers' farms
and took all of their maize stock. They came on June 18, about 30 of them, all
wearing ZANU-PF tee-shirts."[25]

Another farmer in Chegutu told Human Rights Watch that
"Instead of spending time on our farms to prepare for the rainy season we were
forced [by ZANU-PF] to spend days attending political meetings. The political
violence did not help as many of us were forced to flee our homes and leave our
farms."[26]

In its June 2008 report on the post election violence, Human
Rights Watch highlighted how the government of Zimbabwe bore by far the
greatest responsibility for the widespread violence, including looting of
property and food reserves, which took place around the country.[27]
The report also highlighted how the Zimbabwe police had failed to investigate
the thousands of cases of violence perpetrated by ZANU-PF officials,
state-sponsored groups, and the security forces, and how not a single
perpetrator from these groups had been brought to justice.

The UN's Zimbabwe 2009 Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP)
document also found that the impact of humanitarian agencies' long period of
absence from the field, partly due to the violence, had a "detrimental impact
on the food security situation in 2008 and hindered the collection of first
hand information on the real needs of communities and gaps in the humanitarian
response."[28]

Corruption and
Discriminatory Government Policies on Food

Three economists told Human Rights Watch that protracted and
endemic corruption within ZANU-PF has led to a situation of acute economic
disparity.[29]
They add that a very few individuals have been acquiring vast wealth while the
majority of the population (over 90 percent of whom are estimated to be
unemployed) continues to face increasingly severe deprivation.

On December 14, 2007, in an address to ZANU-PF's congress,
the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), Gideon Gono, accused senior
ZANU-PF officials of corruption and stated that the country lost an estimated
US$1.7 billion per year "through economic sabotage perpetuated by the few" with
the knowledge or complicity of government officials.[30]

Human Rights Watch has found no evidence that the Zimbabwe
authorities are taking any serious steps to address corruption in relation to
food insecurity. Conversely, we found that individuals within ZANU-PF have exploited
their political connections to secure preferred access to scarce commodities
like maize meal and farming inputs for export or for sale locally at exorbitant
prices. Endemic corruption has aggravated food insecurity and exacerbated the
food shortages. In February 2007, Gideon Gono also accused the country's
leadership of encouraging the growth of corruption and cited the
"ridiculous" practices of the state's Grain Marketing Board (GMB) as
fueling corrupt practices."[31]

Corrupt practices by ZANU-PF officials have also led to
severe shortages of seed and other farming inputs such as fertilizer. Many of
the government's agricultural policies have benefitted-seemingly by design-the
political elite and larger-scale farmers. Agricultural experts and small-scale
farmers told Human Rights Watch that official policy and supply of seeds and
other inputs were highly politicized and affected by corruption.[32]

The government's most recent policy, the "Champion Farmer
Program" (also known as the Master Farmer Program), was supposed to provide
seeds, fertilizer and farm implements to farmers with a good farming
productivity record.[33]
Several farmers who qualify for the program told Human Rights Watch that they
believe the program was being used for political purposes and that most of
those included in the program were ZANU-PF loyalists. For example, in two
Midlands constituencies won by the MDC during the March 2008 general elections,
no farmers have benefited from the Champion Farmer Program, even though many
qualified.

In a case in Mashonaland East province, local ZANU-PF
officials threatened an official of the Agricultural Technical and Extension
Services (AGRITEX)-an Agriculture Ministry department responsible for
distributing food and fuel-accusing them of being pro-MDC after distributing
inputs to all qualified local farmers whatever their political leaning.[34]

Agriculturalists told Human Rights Watch that the selling of
seed on the black market has also affected seed production capacity. As one
expert put it:

Inputs imported from outside end up in the hands of the
politically well connected that don't put them to good use but sell them on the
black market. Seed is now unavailable and farmers can't plant.[35]

Agriculturists and economists say that there has been gross misuse
of RBZ funds marked for agricultural production. Human Rights Watch did not
find first-hand evidence of this, but 20 small-scale farmers[36]
in Mashonaland East, Masvingo, and Midlands provinces reported that the RBZ had
diverted subsidized maize seed, fuel, and cheap tractors meant for the Champion
Farmer Program to local ZANU-PF officials and governors who then sold them on
the black market at high prices. It is unclear how many farmers have benefited
from the Champion Farmer Program or related programs and how much the RBZ has
actually spent. Zimbabwean officials seldom release figures of RBZ spending on
programs.

Local farmers and a senior employee from the state-run Grain
Marketing Board informed Human Rights Watch that the GMB has also been involved
in corruption. GMB managers appointed by ZANU-PF illegally secure maize from
the GMB and sell it on the black market. Some local ZANU-PF officials prevent
traders and private persons from moving and selling maize to people at
competitive prices.[37]
For example, farmers in Mashonaland East told Human Rights Watch that a ZANU-PF
official and former military officer was preventing local businessmen from
selling maize locally so that he could sell his own maize, at higher prices,
and only to ZANU-PF supporters. This maize was originally stocked by the local
GMB distribution center.[38]

A senior GMB employee told Human Rights Watch that another
program funded by the RBZ aimed at small-scale farmers-"Operation Maguta"-had
mainly benefited the ZANU-PF elite.[39]
According to the GMB official, the seed and stock were also used to buy off war
veterans before the March 29, 2008 elections. His claim was substantiated by
several farmers in the provinces that Human Rights Watch visited. Farmers and
villagers said that the army was put in charge of distributing the program's
seed and fertilizer even though, according to agricultural experts, AGRITEX is
qualified to do so.[40]
Villagers said that instead of distributing the seed and stock to farmers, the
army supplied ZANU-PF politicians, who sold them at exorbitant prices on the
black market. In its earlier report on the March 29 elections, Human Rights
Watch raised concerns about discriminatory practices in the distribution of
state-subsidized maize by the GMB.

The Health Crisis

The Cholera Outbreak

The cholera outbreak that started in August 2008 exposed the
true decline of healthcare in Zimbabwe. Between 1985 and 1992 no cases of death
from cholera were reported in Zimbabwe.[41] Since 1992, as the
health and sanitation infrastructure has deteriorated in Zimbabwe, there have
been an increasing number of outbreaks. However, deaths from cholera had
typically been few, as mortality can be preventedthrough simple
treatment-oral, or in severe cases, intravenousrehydration.
Typically only one percent-or one person in every 100 infected-dies from
cholera.[42]
However, in the current outbreak Zimbabwe has seen a mortality rate five to six
times higher. On January 12, 2009 the World Health Organization (WHO) reported
over 39,000 cholera cases in Zimbabwe and over 2,000 deaths.[43]
The actual figures may be higher due to the incapacity of Zimbabwe's health
services to document cases.

One international health expert told Human Rights Watch that
"The cholera outbreak is an indication of the general collapse in the health
system. This… outbreak is [such as] we have never seen in Zimbabwe."[44]

According to health experts, the high mortality in the
current outbreak is exacerbated by severe malnutrition and high rates of HIV
prevalence.[45]

While exploding only in the past few months, Zimbabwean
authorities had been aware of the potential for a massive cholera epidemic for
nearly a year. In December 2007, 459 cases of cholera were reported in two
high-density suburbs of Harare and 11 people died from cholera and more than
300 were hospitalized in Bulawayo.[46]
Repeated calls to address the epidemic and to ensure that municipal water
sources were properly treated were unaddressed by the government.

In response to a lack of water purification chemicals and electrical
shortages, the national water board cut off all water supplies to Harare
residents in early December 2008.[47]
However, the Zimbabwe authorities failed to anticipate the consequences. While
capacity to respond may have been undermined by a lack of medical and financial
resources, health experts say the authorities initially refused to acknowledge
the true extent of the cholera crisis and the urgent need to respond.[48]

Despite an alarming increase in cholera deaths, infections
and their locations, the government did not immediately appeal for
international help and initially refused to declare the outbreak an emergency.
One international health expert told Human Rights Watch: "By the time the
government called us in to assist, over 200 people had been infected in just
one…Harare…suburb. A faster response may have prevented the spread of the
disease."[49]

On December 4, 2008, four months after the start of the
current outbreak in Harare, ZANU-PF Health Minister David Parirenyatwa declared
the outbreak a national emergency.[50]
But on December 11 Mugabe claimed the crisis was over, ignoring international
humanitarian and WHO data, which showed a sharp increase in infections and
deaths.[51]

A Failing Health System

Many district hospitals and municipal clinics in Zimbabwe
are currently either closed or operating at minimum capacity. Other aggravating
factors include dilapidated infrastructure, equipment failures, and a "brain
drain" of medical professionals.[52]
As a result, ordinary Zimbabweans cannot access basic healthcare. The cholera
outbreak has been aggravated by the closure in November of Harare's two main
public hospitals, Parirenyatwa and Harare, and a shortage of drugs and medical
personnel.[53]

The main victims of the health crisis are the elderly,
children, women and the chronically ill, including people living with HIV/AIDS.[54]The crisis is such that in November 2008, UNICEF moved into a 120-day
emergency mode, focusing on the cholera outbreak and providing emergency health
care to children.[55]

On November 20 the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human
Rights (ZADHR), a local human rights NGO, expressed grave concerns about the
impact on maternal health of the closure of two government maternity hospitals
in greater Harare.[56]
Since 1994, mortality has increased among mothers from 283 to more than 1,100
deaths per 100,000 live births.[57]
ZADHR said that about 3,000 women a month were giving birth in public hospitals
in Harare, with between 250 and 300 needing lifesaving caesarean sections.[58]
The closure of the maternity hospitals will result in many poor women being
denied emergency treatment,[59]
and may further contribute to the already rising maternal mortality rates.
Private hospitals charge for their services in foreign currency, pricing out
most Zimbabweans.

The authorities have treated health workers protesting the
decline in Zimbabwe's health system harshly. On November 18, heavily armed riot
police prevented a group of health workers from petitioning the Minister of
Health and Child Welfare. The workers were demanding that the government
restore accessible and affordable healthcare. Police initially forced the
health workers to protest within the grounds of Parirenyatwa Hospital, but
after four hours the police entered the hospital grounds and forcibly dispersed
the workers, assaulting several.[60]

Official Restrictions
on the Operations of Humanitarian Agencies

The work of local and international humanitarian
organizations has been hampered by a difficult economic environment and
political interference in their operations. Relations between humanitarian
agencies and ZANU-PF have been poor for several years. The latter has
repeatedly accused NGOs in Zimbabwe, including humanitarian organizations, of
supporting the MDC and working with western donors to overthrow the government.
According to the UN's 2009 Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) for Zimbabwe,
violence and government restrictions have prevented humanitarian activities.
The CAP document stated:

A protracted election period, from March through August,
essentially put the country on hold for six months, during which time election
violence and government restrictions halted most humanitarian field activities.
Half a year of critical humanitarian service delivery in support of food
security, clean water, health, and education services was lost, and the impact
of this is likely to continue into 2009.[61]

Such political interference has not only stifled the
operations of humanitarian organizations, it has significantly worsened the
humanitarian situation itself and compounded the suffering of Zimbabweans. On
June 4, 2008 the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare wrote
all NGOs and private voluntary organizations and announced a full suspension of
all their field operations.[62]
Earlier, Minister of Local Government Ignatius Chombo had accused local and
international humanitarian agencies of breaching their registration terms and
conditions. Chombo accused some NGOs of using food distribution programs to
support the MDC.[63]
According to The Zimbabwe Times, on June 15, while addressing a campaign
rally in Silobela, Mugabe accused NGOs of using food handouts to overthrow the
government.[64]

The Zimbabwe authorities have failed to provide any evidence
to support their allegations that NGOs were in breach of their registration
terms and conditions or conducting discriminatory practices in their food
distribution programs. In any case, under Zimbabwe's laws regulating the
operations of NGOs, the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare
does not have the powers to order the suspension of NGOs.[65]
This raises concerns that the suspension was an attempt to prevent NGOs from
witnessing and reporting on the state-sponsored violence that was taking place
in the rural parts of the country at the time. It also significantly affected
the ability of the NGOs to assist the poor and destitute.

The suspension limited the ability of humanitarian agencies
to determine the true extent of the food crisis, and assess the future needs of
the population. It obliged them to delay responding to the food crisis until after
the authorities lifted the formal ban in September 2008. The agencies were
therefore forced to conduct registration and verification exercises at the same
time as distributing food. Humanitarian agency representatives told Human
Rights Watch that this had put a strain on their ability to reach all those in
need:

The suspension was the period [that] we should have [been
able to use] for…registration and verification. The numbers of needy
skyrocketed because the crisis was only attended to at the last minute. Our
food aid was in South Africa …Because we were suspended we couldn't bring it
in. It takes [time] to move 10,000 tons of food. It also cost us money to keep
the food in South Africa because we had to [rent] extra warehouses.[66]

Attempts by ZANU-PF to
Interfere in Food Aid Distribution

Despite the formal lifting of the ban, restrictions on the
operations of humanitarian agencies remain. The terms of a new Memorandum of
Understanding signed between local and international humanitarian agencies and
the ZANU-PF authorities say that if the agencies wish to operate in a specific
area, they must first get permission and sign a written agreement with local
government structures setting the terms for the distribution.[67]

While such a request by the government may seem reasonable,
local government and party structures in Zimbabwe have attempted to use this
requirement to control and impede the efforts of humanitarian agencies to
assess needs and provide much needed food and other assistance to Zimbabweans.
The requirements have also left the delivery of humanitarian assistance open to
manipulation by government agents and ZANU-PF officials.Representatives
from a number of NGOs told Human Rights Watch that banning restrictions
continue to be enforced in some localities by ZANU-PF officials, "war veterans"
and traditional leaders.

Local authorities and chiefs have also tried to interfere
directly in humanitarian agencies' food distribution. ZANU-PF officials in at
least two areas insisted that food aid should be distributed exclusively
through their local structures. Two NGOs independently told Human Rights Watch
that the Governor of Masvingo province was insisting that someone from ZANU-PF
must accompany all humanitarian agencies or they would not be able to
distribute food.[68]

In another case, in Gokwe, Midlands, one humanitarian NGO
was unable to distribute food because ZANU-PF officials and militia continued
to patrol the area and demand that food be distributed through them.[69]
Representatives from the particular NGOs informed Human Rights Watch that they
had raised the issue with the government but their concerns were not addressed.
The NGOs expressed reluctance to raise the situation with donors because they
feared expulsion from the country or the renewed suspension on their
operations.

Government Non-Issuance
of Employment Permits for International NGO Staff

The Zimbabwe government has also hampered the work of
international humanitarian organizations by unnecessarily denying foreign staff
employment permits and extensions of permits. Representatives of four such
agencies interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that since the lifting of the
aid suspension, the Zimbabwe authorities have refused to issue new employment
permits or extend the employment permits for some international staff without
presenting any valid reasons for doing so.[70]

The non-issuance of employment permits appears to be another
government tactic to try to control and restrict the activities of humanitarian
organizations. One NGO representative told Human Rights Watch:

I have just been informed that a key food aid staff
member's employment permit will not be extended. The appeal will take more than
four months. But this is a key person. This is someone that we really need for
their expertise.[71]

Another added, "There are a lot of stumbling blocks and
hurdles that the authorities put in our way. The work permit issue is just
another one of them."[72]

V. Ongoing Violations
of Civil and Political Rights

Zimbabwe's September 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA)
has not brought an end to ZANU-PF's attacks on its opponents and critics. The
party continues to use state institutions such as the police and the justice
system as a weapon against MDC supporters, civil society activists, and human
rights defenders.

Enforced Disappearances
and Illegal Detentions

Since the end of October 2008, ZANU-PF has used the police
and other state agencies to arbitrarily arrest and ''disappear''[73]
more than 40 MDC members and human rights activists. The first wave of
abductions and "disappearances" took place on October 29 when 15 MDC members,
including Violet Mupfuranhehwe and her two-year-old child, were abducted from
their homes in Banket, Mashonaland West. The assailants in these pre-dawn raids
were 12 armed men in civilian clothing claiming to be members of the Law and
Order section of the Zimbabwe Republic Police Force.[74]

On December 3, Jestina Mukoko, a leading human rights
activist and Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) director, was taken from her home in
Norton at around 5 a.m. by at least 15 men who identified themselves as working
for the Law and Order section of the Zimbabwe Republic Police Force.[75]
Zachariah Nkomo, the brother of Harrison Nkomo, a human rights lawyer working
for Mukoko's release, was abducted from his home in Rujeko, Masvingo province,
around midnight on December 5 by four unidentified men in civilian clothes.[76]

On December 8, two of Mukoko's colleagues, Pascal Gonzo and
Broderick Takawira, ZPP's provincial coordinator, were abducted by five
unidentified men from the ZPP premises in Harare. The men, in civilian clothes,
forced Gonzo and Takawira into one of six Mazda Familia sedans outside.[77]
Another MDC activist, Ghandi Mudzingwa was abducted by unidentified men in
Harare on the same day.[78]
Police initially denied holding Mukoko and her colleagues. However, on December
22, lawyers working on the cases learned that the 32 activists were in various
police stations in Harare.[79]
They had been held by the security forces in unknown detention centers for
between two and eight weeks.

On December 24, Mukoko, Takawira and six MDC members (Pieta
Kaseke, Violet Mupfuranhehwe, Fidelis Chiramba, Collen Mutemagau, Concillia
Chinanzvavana, and Emmanuel Chinanzvavana) were arraigned before the Harare
Magistrate's Court.[80]
The eight were accused of contravening section 24(a) of the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act. The police alleged they had recruited or
attempted to recruit individuals for training in banditry, insurgency, sabotage,
or terrorism, which can carry a life sentence if convicted.

Responding to an urgent high court application for the
detainees' release, Justice Yunus Omerjee ruled the detention of the six MDC
members was unlawful and ordered their immediate release.[81]
He also ordered that Mukoko and Takawira be sent to the Avenues Clinic for
medical treatment. Police did not comply with any of the orders. The state then
successfully appealed to the Supreme Court for the continued detention of the
activists, and police moved all eight from Harare remand prison to the
notorious Chikurubi maximum security and Chikurubi female prisons. This
included Mupfuranhehwe and her infant son.[82]

Mukoko told her lawyers that, during her 19-day detention, CIO
agents and police officers repeatedly beat her on the soles of her feet with
rubber truncheons, forced her to kneel on gravel for hours under interrogation,
and threatened her life. She said she was forced to "confess" on camera about
her alleged role in recruiting people to overthrow the government. The other
activists charged with Mukoko also allege torture during their detention.[83]

Following Mukoko's appearance in court, 11 other MDC members
and civil society activists were arraigned on various charges, including
banditry and recruiting people to overthrow the government. The police also
transferred them to Chikurubi maximum security and Chikurubi female prisons.[84]

On January 7, seven MDC members were officially charged with
bombing police stations, railway lines, and other centers and engaging in acts
of banditry, insurgency, sabotage, or terrorism. The basis of the charges was
section 23 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, which carries a
potential death sentence in the event of conviction. The seven are due back in
court on January 23.[85]

Thirteen additional activists remain in police custody at
various police stations in Harare.[86]
At the time of writing, apart from the seven who were formally charged, none of
the remaining 25 activists in police custody and in prison have been formally
charged with any offenses.[87]
On January 9, an application by the defense lawyers for removal from remand for
those in prison was denied by a magistrate at Harare Magistrate's Court. Those
in remand are due to appear in court on January 14.[88]
The authorities are refusing to disclose the whereabouts of 11 other MDC
members.

Human Rights Watch believes that the charges against the 32
MDC members and human rights activists are politically motivated. The Zimbabwe
authorities appear to be using these cases as a pretext to clamp down on the
MDC and prevent human rights activists from reporting on human rights abuses.
The arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and unlawful detentions, as
well as reports of torture and abuse by the Zimbabwe authorities, violate
Zimbabwe's obligations under international human rights law.

The reports of abuse and torture of the MDC members and
civil society activists to obtain confessions raise deep concerns that any
trials against those detained could be fair. International law prohibits the
use of evidence obtained through torture and other forms of coercive
interrogation.

These enforced disappearances and abductions also violate
the terms of the GPA, in which ZANU-PF committed to ending abuses and
investigating acts of violence perpetrated by Zimbabwe's security forces and
other groups.[89]

Restrictions on Freedom
of Association, Assembly, and Expression

The ZANU-PF authorities have not lifted their restrictions
on freedom of association, assembly, and expression as required under the GPA.
On October 27 police tear-gassed and beat about 150 activists from the Women's
Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) and the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU)
who were holding a peaceful demonstration in Harare.[90]
Forty-two women from WCoZ were arrested. The demonstrators were calling for a
resolution to the political impasse between ZANU-PF and the MDC so that the
country's leaders could address the severe food shortages in the country.
The authorities charged the 42 women with "gathering without police
permission" in contravention of the Public Order and Security Act.[91]
The women were forced to pay on-the-spot fines and were released later that
day. At least 35 activists were treated for injuries at hospitals and clinics
in Harare, including five who were admitted to hospitals with more severe
injuries.
On October 16, Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, leaders of the women's
rights organization Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were arrested in Bulawayo
when they tried to lead a peaceful demonstration about the serious food
shortages in the country.[92]
On October 27, the Bulawayo Magistrate's Court denied the women bail, ruling
that it would not be in the "interests of justice." The women remained
in custody for three weeks at Mlondlozi Female Prison in Bulawayo before they
were released.

VI. Zimbabwe's
Obligations under Regional and International Law

Under international human rights law, every person has the
rights to food, to the highest attainable standard of health, to life, to seek,
receive and impart information, to nondiscrimination and equal protection of
the law, and to be protected from violence, among other rights. International
human rights law also requires states to address persistent violations of human
rights and take measures to prevent their occurrence.

These rights are guaranteed by important international and
regional treaties to which Zimbabwe is a party. These include the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR).

Right to Food

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights guarantee the right to food.
Article 25 of the Universal Declaration, which was adopted by the UN General
Assembly in 1948, couches the right within the broader context of an adequate
standard of living that includes health, food, medical care, social services,
and economic security.[93]

As a party to the ICESCR, which Zimbabwe ratified in 1991,
Zimbabwe recognizes the right of everyone to adequate food. It agrees to "take
appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right," including working
cooperatively with the international community to alleviate hunger within its
borders.[94]

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the
international expert body that monitors state compliance with the ICESCR,
stressed in its General Comment No. 12, the need for accountability and
transparency in implementing national strategies for the right to food:

The formulation and implementation of national strategies
for the right to food requires full compliance with the principles of
accountability, transparency, people's participation … Appropriate
institutional mechanisms should be devised to secure a representative process
towards the formulation of a strategy, drawing on all available domestic
expertise relevant to food and nutrition.[95]

The ICESCR prohibits discrimination by states with respect
to the right to food on several grounds, including on the basis of political or
other opinion.[96]
General Comment No. 12 specifies that it is a violation of the ICESCR to
discriminate with respect to "access to food, as well as to means and entitlements
for its procurement."[97]
National strategies for the right to food should give particular attention to
the need to prevent discrimination in access to food or resources for food.[98]
And even when a state faces severe resource constraints, it should undertake
measures to ensure that the right to adequate food is met for vulnerable
population groups and individuals.[99]

According to General Comment No. 12, a state violates the
ICECSR when it fails to ensure the satisfaction of at least the minimum
essential level required to be free from hunger. A state that contends that
resource constraints make it impossible to provide access to food for those who
are unable by themselves to secure such access, needs to demonstrate that
"every effort has been made to use all the resources at its disposal in an
effort to satisfy, as a matter of priority, those minimum obligations." If it
claims that it cannot carry out its obligation for reasons beyond its control,
the state has the burden of proving that it has unsuccessfully sought to obtain
international support to ensure the availability and accessibility of the
necessary food.[100]

Finally, according to General Comment No. 12, a state
violates the right to food through "denial of access to food to particular
individuals or groups, whether the discrimination is based on legislation or is
pro-active; the prevention of access to humanitarian food aid in internal
conflicts or other emergency situations….and failure to regulate activities of
individuals or groups so as to prevent them from violating the right of food of
others."[101]

As the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food stated in
his 2008 report to the Human Rights Council, "Governments are bound to respect,
protect and fulfil the right to food without discrimination, which also means
that they should be held accountable to their populations if they violate those
obligations."[102]

Right to Health

All individuals have the right to enjoy the highest
attainable standard of health, a right which has been enshrined in
international and regional treaties. The right to health is guaranteed by the
ICESCR, CEDAW, and the ACHPR. This right imposes an obligation on states to
take necessary steps for the prevention, treatment and control of epidemics and
other diseases.

The ICESCR guarantees the right of everyone to the highest
attainable standard of health, and requires states parties to take steps
individually and through international cooperation to progressively realize
this right via the prevention, treatment, and control of epidemic diseases and
the creation of conditions to assure medical service and attention to all.[103]
"Progressive realization" demands of states parties a "specific and continuing
obligation to move as expeditiously and effectively as possible towards the
full realization of [the right]."[104]
According to the WHO, "[w]hen considering the level of implementation of this
right in a particular State, the availability of resources at that time and the
development context are taken into account. Nonetheless, no State can justify a
failure to respect its obligations because of a lack of resources. States must
guarantee the right to health to the maximum of their available resources, even
if these are tight."[105] The concept of available resources is intended to include available
assistance from the international community.[106]

The right to health is further guaranteed by a number of other
international human rights treaties and commitments. The Convention on the
Rights of the Child binds states to "recognize the right of the child to the
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for
the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health."[107]
The right to health is also protected under the International Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, CEDAW, the
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers
and Members of Their Families, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities.[108]

States committed in the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on
HIV/AIDS to "promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms,
including the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health"[109]
and "in an urgent manner make every effort to: provide progressively and in a
sustainable manner, the highest attainable standard of treatment for HIV/AIDS,
including the prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections, and
effective use of quality-controlled antiretroviral therapy in a careful and
monitored manner to improve adherence and effectiveness and reduce the risk of
developing resistance."[110]

Regional treaties also speak to the right to health. The
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights ensures the right to health and
binds states parties to "take the necessary measures to protect the health of
their people and to ensure that they receive medical attention when they are sick."[111]
Furthermore, the African Charter on the Rights of the Child provides for the
right of every child to the best attainable health, and binds states parties to
move toward implementing this right, including the provision of "necessary
medical assistance and health care to all children with emphasis on the
development of primary health care."[112]

VII. The Regional Failure to Address Zimbabwe's Crisis

Leaders of southern African states have repeatedly ignored
the violations of human rights inflicted on the people of Zimbabwe by Robert
Mugabe's ZANU-PF government, and they have not taken serious steps to help
alleviate their suffering.

ZANU-PF's long history of abuses culminated in the
widespread violence in the build-up to the June 27, 2008 presidential election
run-off between Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai was forced
to pull out of the race after over 160 MDC activists were killed and thousands
beaten and tortured.[113]

Despite declarations by AU and SADC observers that the
subsequent one-candidate elections were not free and fair due to the violence,
Mugabe declared himself president. As this and previous Human Rights Watch
reports document, serious human rights abuses by ZANU-PF continued, as before,
following the signing of the Global Political Agreement between ZANU-PF and the
MDC on September 15. Yet neither the AU nor SADC have condemned Mugabe's
actions or taken any measures that would promote a genuine democratic
transition, including questioning Mugabe's right to assume Zimbabwe's seat at
the AU summit.

At the 11th ordinary session of the AU summit
from June 30 to July 1, 2008, in Egypt, AU leaders missed an important
opportunity to press Mugabe on the worsening human rights situation in a
decisive manner.[114]
An AU resolution on Zimbabwe expressed deep concern at the situation in the
country and its impact on the sub-region. The resolution appealed to the
parties concerned to refrain from actions that would negatively impact on the
climate of dialogue. However, the resolution failed to condemn the widespread
violence perpetrated by ZANU-PF before the presidential run-off on June 27, or
to hold Mugabe responsible. And instead of demanding respect for human rights
in Zimbabwe, the resolution merely endorsed SADC's mediation efforts under
former South African president Thabo Mbeki.

As many observers-Zimbabwean as well as international-warned
it would, this approach has proven ineffectual. It is beyond time for the AU to
act. SADC has not achieved the results that all African governments and their
leaders must be surely committed to-the end of abuses and the restoration of
the rule of law in Zimbabwe. There can be no genuine change in Zimbabwe if
abuses are not tackled head-on and their perpetrators held to account.

The combination of political instability, the cholera
outbreak, and severe food insecurity has driven thousands of Zimbabweans into
neighboring countries. Credible current estimates say that over 38,000
Zimbabweans have lodged asylum claims in the South African border town of
Musina since July 2008.[115]
This is nearly double the total number of Zimbabwean claims in all six of South
Africa's refugee reception offices in 2007. This influx also took cholera
across Zimbabwe's borders. At least ten people have died from cholera in South
Africa and doctors in Musina are treating hundreds of infected in cholera
camps.[116]
The South African authorities themselves declared the border with Zimbabwe a
disaster area on December 11, 2008.[117]
The cholera outbreak has also spread to Zimbabwe's other neighbors including
Botswana, Mozambique, and Zambia.[118]

The crisis threatens the southern African sub-region, but
the lack of sub-regional progress so far clearly indicates that the overt
engagement of the AU as the wider African inter-governmental body is overdue.
The crisis of political legitimacy in Zimbabwe is at the root of the country's
problems. The urgent humanitarian needs of Zimbabweans cannot be isolated:
their suffering is a direct consequence of ZANU-PF's abusive rule. The AU-and
the wider international community-can only restore peace and security to the
region by openly acknowledging the scale of the crisis, putting human rights at
the top of the agenda, and holding abusers to account.

VIII. Acknowledgements

This report was researched by a consultant to the Africa
division and Tiseke Kasambala, senior researcher in the Africa division. It was
written by Tiseke Kasambala. The report was edited by Jon Elliott, advocacy
director of the Africa Division, and Andrew Mawson, deputy program director.
Legal review was provided by James Ross, Legal and Policy Director. Jeffrey
Severson and Charlene Harry, associates for the Africa Division, Grace Choi,
and Fitzroy Hepkins provided production assistance.

Human Rights Watch wishes to acknowledge with gratitude the
contribution provided in and outside Zimbabwe by representatives of local human
rights organizations, local and international humanitarian agencies, the donor
community and UN agencies, and all Zimbabweans who agreed to be interviewed for
this report.

[2]
For more on the evictions see the Human Rights Watch report, Evicted and
Forsaken: Internally Displaced Persons in the Aftermath of Operation
Murambatsvina, November 2005, http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2005/11/30/zimbabwe-evicted-and-forsaken-0

[4]
The Demographic and Health Survery reports a maternal mortality rate of 283 per
100,000 live births in 1994 and 695 per 100,000 live births in 1999, http://www.who.int/whosis/data/
(accessed January 13, 2009). Data referenced in the 2004 Zimbabwe Millennium
Development Progress report, www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0001702/Zimbabwe_MDG-report2004_goal5.pdf
(accessed January 13, 2009).

[7]
Human Rights Watch, No Bright Future: Government Failures, Human Rights Abuses,
and Squandered Progress in the Fight against AIDS in Zimbabwe, July 2006, http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2006/07/27/no-bright-future.

[36]
Human Rights Watch interviews with farmers in Mashonaland East and Midlands,
November 26-30, 2008.

[37]
The GMB recently removed its eight-year monopoly on the importation and
exportation of maize. According to agricultural experts, the government's
monopoly has had an adverse effect on maize production in the country.

[65]
Under the Private Voluntary Organizations (PVO) Act, there is no provision
empowering the Minister to order the suspension of NGO or PVO operations.
Section 21 of the Act which provided for this eventuality was declared void by
the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe. The court ruled that the section was at
odds with section 18 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which stipulates that
everyone is entitled to protection of the law. See Holland & Ors vs
Minister of Public Service, Labout and Social Welfare 1997 (1) ZLR 186 (S).

[104]UN
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (UNCESCR), "Substantive
Issues Arising in the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights," General Comment No. 14, The Right to the Highest
Attainable Standard of Health, E/C.12/2000/4, ( 2000), paras. 30-31.

[108]The
right to the health is recognized by articles article 5(e)(iv) of the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination; 11(1)(f), 12 and 14(2)(b) of the Convention on the Elimination
of Discrimination Against Women; by the 1990 International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families:
arts. 28, 43 (e) and 45 (c), and by the 2006 Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities, art. 25.

[109]UN
Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS,
para. 37.

[112]African
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/24.9/49
(1990), entered into force Nov. 29, 1999.

[113]
See Human Rights Watch, "They Beat Me Like a Dog": Political Persecution of
Opposition Activists and Supporters in Zimbabwe, August 2008,
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/08/11/they-beat-me-dog-0.